I specced a towbar when we purchased our GC and the dealer fitted an after market Parkside towbar... Now can't fit a long range tank or uneek rear bar if I decide to go that way in future. I thought it was reasonable to expect a genuine towbar what do you guys think? I had a few other issues at the time and this was low priority so didn't pursue a replacement bar at the time.

I probably prefer the Mopar over the Milford bar but I've been quoted $1,500 by a jeep dealer which seems a bit much. I'll do about a bit More ringing round to see if I can get a better price.

The other issue with the HR and Milfordbar is that you cannot fit a long range tank. I don't have plans for this but something to weigh up - you never know....

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I bought the Mopar bar off the local Jeep dealer and installed it myself. The mechanicals was relatively easy but connecting the wiring harness was tricky. If you are not inclines to do it yourself, I'm not sure I would trust the local auto-sparkie to get the wiring harness connected right. HR and probably Milford, use a short cut wiring method that taps directly into the tail-light and brake-light wiring. It may not be as tidy or as robust but it works apparently.

Still waiting for evidence of this other method. Even the Mopar installation instructions detail splicing the wiring.

Steve, I was pleasantly surprised to find our 2015 with an OEM tow bar was wired by the dealer using a harness that piggyback plugged into the existing taillight plug in the LHS, plus a wire across to the RHS, where I assume it was also piggybacked.
This harness even had a two pin socket out the side that gave me a brake light feed for the controller, plus a blue brake supply connection down to the trailer plug.
Very neat and certainly not spliced, at least in our installation.

Back to the Towing thread, we are just home from a 4000k loop to Ballarat and back and while I thought our 2012 was a great unit, the 2015 is simply a delight.
42 deg temperature and 40k head winds while towing 2250 odd kg, for hour after hour, after hour, were simply ignored. Transmission sat in 7, unless we hit a lump, oil temp at 115, and transmission at 95, cruise control on and 100k/hr showing on the speedo. Surely it isn't possible to get any easier.....
We head to Darwin in June and I'm already looking forward to hooking up again.
John

Steve, I was pleasantly surprised to find our 2015 with an OEM tow bar was wired by the dealer using a harness that piggyback plugged into the existing taillight plug in the LHS, plus a wire across to the RHS, where I assume it was also piggybacked.
This harness even had a two pin socket out the side that gave me a brake light feed for the controller, plus a blue brake supply connection down to the trailer plug.
Very neat and certainly not spliced, at least in our installation.

Thanks for the update John. A slight improvement to the execution, but electrically it's the same. The trailer is still hanging off the car's lighting circuit, which was less of a problem with older, conventional lighting systems.

Thanks for the update John. A slight improvement to the execution, but electrically it's the same. The trailer is still hanging off the car's lighting circuit, which was less of a problem with older, conventional lighting systems.

A wire tapped properly inside the cabin is not cause for any concern.

Do you get reverse light provision?

Cheers,
Steve

Ummm, don't think so - I didn't pull all the trim when sourcing the brake controller feed, but could see the twin socket hanging out of the tow bar harness, through the bin hole under the torch. The piggy back plug was further up the harness towards the tail light and I could only feel it then see it with the aid of a mirror.
This socket made brake light feed available plus a blue wire that went back to the trailer socket. Simple to connect my controller input to the brake feed side and the van brake wire to the blue trailer socket wire. Smart thinking by someone related to the harness manufacture.
Our van has full LED lights but no reversing lights so I didn't look further. if the trim was off maybe the piggy back plug would allow a connection.
No issues with our van lighting, or the vehicle, and all works as it should.